


Branching Out

by GinAndCats



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming of Age, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, more probably idk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-12
Packaged: 2018-04-08 20:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4317984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinAndCats/pseuds/GinAndCats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy and Victoire have been together since, well, forever. It was natural, both of them never really felt like they belonged, but knew they belonged together. It really was the perfect set up. But there's one boy that Teddy can't stop thinking about, one with dark messy hair and endless wit. He starts to wonder what it would be like to date other people. Victoire thinks it's a great idea, at first. Soon she's jealous and turns to another friend to help her get him back, but she might just find something new with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heat Rises

**Author's Note:**

> This has been on my mind forever and I'm finally writing it down hell yeah.

"It really is too hot today"

"You're a wizard, use magic"

"But my wands all the way over there"

"Ha, lazy"

"I don't see you using magic either"

"Well my wands all the way over there"

They laugh together, rolling closer to each other to place play-punches. Teddy smiled, it was good to talk to Victoire like this, refreshing. Summer break had just started and all the graduation parties had just ended. This year both Rose and Albus had graduated, making the festivities twice as large than when James had graduated last year. It'd been a maddening few days of cake and dancing, Teddy was more than glad to just lay on the floor with his girlfriend. 

And they were. Laying on the floor that is. There was a heat wave and Victoire had the unfortunate luck of bunking on the top floor of The Burrow. "Heat Rises" She had said, so the obvious solution was to get as low as they could. And that meant laying on the floor. It was nice though, to just look at the beams on the ceiling and hear the cicadas. It was slow and nice and safe. 

"I think we have enough cake to last us the rest of the summer." Victoire mused, her voice so much smoother than the jagged buzz of cicadas. 

"No way, it'll last to Halloween at least." She laughed, it sounded like a bell.

"What?" He loved their banter, they could talk for hours like this, lightly arguing and swapping ideas.

"Yep. And we have enough side dishes to last till Christmas." He was laughing too now, maybe the heat was getting to their heads, but today everything was funny. 

"Well that one's not fair. No one is going to eat that nasty casserole." Teddy rolled over on his side to see her, she was all pale skin and blonde hair, she liked to wear dark colors to counteract that, but it usually just made the light parts of her stand out more. He didn't tell her that though. 

"The casserole wasn't that bad." She turned to him, eyebrows up

"You're just saying that because your precious godfather was the one to cook it up" He feigned being hurt by that, hand over his heart

"Am not-" he nearly jumped out of his skin when the door slammed open. They both sat up and took in the sight of a very sweaty, slightly out of breath James Sirius Potter. 

"You were right! They're up here!" He yelled down the stairs then turned to them. "We're getting a quidditch match together, you guys in?"

"Totally" Teddy stood and brushed off his pants. He held out his hand to Victoire, "You coming?" She scrunched her nose, looking doubtful. Though it didn't really matter if she came or not, he could practically feel James bouncing behind him. He was totally magnetic when it came to quidditch, all confidence and power. There was no way that Teddy could say no to him, not that he would ever want to anyhow. 

"On brooms? High in the air? Heat Rises you know.Teddy rolled his eyes but before he could say anything James butted it. He put his hands on Teddy's shoulder and leaned in, dark eyebrows knitted in concentration. He was intense.

"What if I told you it was parents against children?" She sighed and then grinned, clasping Teddy's hand and pushing herself off the ground. 

"You know me too well Potter, I'd never pass up a chance to smoke my dad." The game was on. 

 

* * * * *

Turns out it didn't matter whether Heat Rose or not, since playing quidditch warmed you up at any temperature. Teddy could swear that if someone were below him they'd think it was raining he was sweating so much. 

Since it was a homemade match, some rules had been bent. For instance, there were two hoops instead of three, tickling hexes were allowed (Teddy had come up with this rule when he was five, and it never failed to amuse him), and they used three bludgers instead of two. Which sort of sucked given how Teddy was playing beater and how all three of the bludgers seemed glued to Albus. That kid has the worst luck. Teddy, however, was lucky to have Roxanne as the other beater. That girl sure could hit a flying rock. She said she liked playing beater since her father couldn't anymore; he said it didn't feel right without his partner-in-crime. That fact always made Teddy a little teary, but it didn't right now, since he and Aunt Angelina were killing it as chasers. 

After saving Albus from a concussion for what was probably the hundredth time that day he heard a distinctive shout

"SNITCH!" And turned to see James darting away at something. At some point in the match he must've torn his shirt off, which Teddy was now considering. His shoulders were slick with sweat and though he couldn't see his face he was absolutely sure he was grinning. Soon his father was chasing after him as well, if they're talking strategy James shouldn't publicly announce whenever he sees the snitch, but he just gets to excited. It's kind of charming. He tried to share a look with Victoire but she was busy blocking her father from taking a shot. 

The rest of the match seemed to run in slow motion as James and Harry raced for the snitch. The quaffle was passed back and forth, but there weren't any serious plays being made. Even the bludgers took a break from trying to murder Albus. All eyes were on the father-son duo, James was more agile, but no one could deny Harry's experience. They were neck and neck, a blur of skin and skill. It was amazing to watch them, they looked so similar when they played. Well, they always looked similar, but on brooms they were practically twins. 

The high speed chase went on for maybe two minuets more before Teddy got bored of it, when they flew over the lake he knew that was his chance. The match had shifted from the actual pitch at this point and some players had abandoned the game altogether to watch the two Potters go at it. Teddy watched James' face as well as he could, seeing glimpses of stone cold concentration. He knew James would hate him for this but he just couldn't resist. He grabbed his wand from where he had shoved it in his waistline and aimed it at where James was about to be. He quickly whispered 'Titillando'. 

James arched back and let loose a piercing laugh, close to a scream since he was caught off guard. His arms instinctively covered his stomach and he lost his balance and tipped off his broom. Teddy flew closer to watch the train wreck. The muscles of James' torso clenched hard under his skin, flexing against his will. The toned body fell out of the air, and he gasped for breath between giggles. He crashed into the water below him just as his dad grabbed the snitch.

"Still got it!" He yelled as the rest of his team went over to congratulate him. Teddy might as well have cast the spell on himself as well, he was laughing so hard as he flew down to make sure James didn't drown. 

As he got to the edge of the lake he saw James break the surface, coughing and gasping for breath. His dark hair was slicked back and shined in the sun. Teddy smoothly flew up next to him and held out his hand, still laughing, though James was not.

"Need- ha- and hand there buddy?" James looked up at him and Teddy could see the moment he realized what he had done. His confused stare had turned to a look of dangerous clarity. Teddy knew he was in for it now, but watching the boy fall off his broom in a fit of laughter was well worth it. 

"You fucker." He might as well have growled. Teddy was still laughing. James launched himself out of the water and tried to tackle him, he could only grab his legs, but it did the trick just as well. Teddy crashed into the water, closing his mouth just in time to avoid inhaling half the contents of the lake. James changed his grip on him, he was all arms and legs. Teddy grabbed back, trying to immobilize the boy before his hands found their way to his throat. James' head collided with Teddy's nose and he tasted blood as his hair tickled his face. When he finally broke for a breath James was latched on his back shouting obscenities. His strong arms held Teddy directly against his bare chest, and Teddy could feel it rise and fall with each insult. 

He quickly morphed his face into something shark like, something he used to do all this time when swimming with the Potter-Weasley kids, it always made them laugh. He lifted his arms over his head and made it as hard as possible for James to hold on.

"You're gonna need a bigger boat if you want to bring me down!" He bellowed, gnashing his newly sharpened teeth and wiggling away from James. 

"Don't you pull this shit with me!" He yelled just as Teddy escaped his grip, he turned around and pretended that he was about to devour James, who was having none of it, which sort of made it more fun. "That wasn't cool and you know it!" 

"It doesn't matter if it was cool, it was bloody hilarious!" James started to launch at him again. but Teddy was one step ahead of him, "A hug? For meeeee?" James tried to stop but Teddy was already on top of him with a rib breaking hug. 

"Let go of me, you dolt!" James was now the one who tried to get out of his grip, but he wasn't scowling anymore. As much as he tired to stop it, he was smiling now. 

"What's that, you want some of my blood? I didn't know you were a vampire!" He rubbed his nose all over James' hair, nuzzling and making sure the blood from James full on head butt got on him. He laughed as James dunked his head under that water to get the blood off, calling Teddy a mad man. And maybe he was, he certainly felt mad right now, hugging James in the water and smearing blood on his face. When he thought about it it was sort of messed up, but that's how James made him feel sometimes. Messed up. 

"Save me!" Teddy turned around to see all the other kids swimming towards them, no one with any regard for their clothes, it's too hot out to have regard for ones clothes. He loosens his grip on James, letting him slip away. He stayed close though, never further than a few feet.

Victoire takes his head in her hands and kisses his nose, Teddy notices James' face tense a bit, but he's probably just seeing thing. Probably.

"Teddy your nose! Oh, now your face is all messed up and I don't love you anymore" She jokes

"He totally deserved it!" James shouts at her and she laughs, light and airy. Completely different from James' full bodied chortle he realizes. 

Victoire kisses his nose once more and agrees

"You totally deserve it" Teddy keeps his eyes on James, yeah, he totally deserves it.


	2. Everyone's Laughing And Nothing Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teddy has a talk with James, and Victoire has some big news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so nice out today. I don't even have work. 
> 
> Anyway, here's Teddy being an adorable fool with James and Victoire. <3

Later, as the sun was setting, Teddy went to find James. To properly apologize, he had had his fun, but when it comes down to it he had to make sure James wasn’t actually mad at him. He found James by himself on the quidditch pitch, writing quickly in some journal. He didn’t look up when Teddy sat next to him. Or when Teddy shoved his shoulder against him. Or when Teddy threw a handful of grass in his hair. 

“Hey, James, Jamie, Jimbo, you there?” James finally looked up, but not at him. He squinted at the setting sun, and ran a calloused hand through his hair. He spoke quietly, totally different from before and Teddy worries that he really fucked up this time.

“I was so close to catching it.” James was serious, he could see the fire behind his eyes. It was there whenever he talked about something he was passionate about, and that thing was often quidditch. He tried to lighten the mood

“It’s just a pickup game.” James made a face like he’d just eaten a lemon and shook his head. He pulled his knees up close and continued to refuse to look at Teddy.

“It’s never ‘just a game’ Teddy. Don’t you ever take anything seriously?” Of course he did, he was taking James seriously right now. Teddy studied his profile, he looked at the small spattering of freckles under his eyes, and the place where his jaw met his neck, and the way his mouth moved when he said his name.

“Yeah, I do.” James grabbed at his hair again in exasperation. 

“I was going against my dad you wouldn’t understand-“ Teddy cut him off with his cold voice

“Yeah I guess I wouldn’t understand something like that.” James jerked his head up and finally looked at Teddy. He looked like he just stepped on a puppy his eyes were so wide

“Oh, shit, man, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just-“ Teddy waved away his apology, that’s what he came out here to do. He ruffled James’ hair and grinned

“It’s fine, I just wanted to get your head out of your ass for a second,” James started to object but Teddy patted his cheek, “Shhh, be quiet for a second Jimbo. I came out here to apologize for that tickling hex before, I know how much you love quidditch, but I just couldn’t resist, and by the way, you should’ve seen yourself fall off your broom it was hilarious.” James looked like he was waiting for more, “That’s it. I’m done.” 

“That’s a piss poor apology.” Teddy shrugged

“Well you did break my nose”

“Is it really broken?” There he goes with the puppy stepping face again.

“No.” They’re quiet for a few moments before James started smiling, then laughing, he punched Teddy in the shoulder.

“You’re really something else, you know that?” Teddy started shifting his face, and his hair color as fast as he could, making James laugh even harder. “What are you doing? You look so stupid!”

“I’m being something else, get it?” James just laughs harder and falls to his back, letting his hair fall all over his face. Teddy wanted to reach out and push it back, but it seemed not right for that moment. Instead he let his face settle back into its natural pattern and fell back on the grass with James. He really felt like something else with James. 

They stayed there for a while. Laughing lightly at first, and then giving away to silence. But it wasn’t silence, it was a summer night. The bugs were loud as ever, a never ending hum. Every so often some bird called out. The breeze rustled the trees, rubbing leaves and branches together. It was nice laying there with James. A different kind of nice from laying on the floor with Victoire. 

She was breathless, and always moving; like a willow. James was different, he was all words and sound, he took action but stood his ground twice as much; like maple. Just like their wands. Teddy wondered what he was supposed to be with his vinewood wand. 

Teddy wondered if he could just reach out, would James be there. Is he close enough? He never got a chance to check because all of a sudden it wasn’t any kind of silent. 

“Teddy! Teddy? Where are you?” Victoire was looking for him. He sat up and patted James leg, he waved to Victoire, and she started walking over, but she still had a ways to go. 

“Looks like Victoire needs me for something.” James sat up lazily, rubbing sleep from his eyes even though they’d only been laying there for ten minutes. He yawned

“Doesn’t she always?” Teddy turned to look at James full on; there was a little bit too much salt in his voice. And no matter who says it, Teddy will not allow someone to talk shit about his girlfriend; she’d already been through enough. 

“Excuse me, James Sirius Potter?” he rolled his eyes at the use of his full name. He knows how Teddy gets about Victoire, he shouldn’t’ve started something. 

“You know what I mean; you two can’t go four hours without sucking each other’s faces” Teddy continued his disapproving stare. James smiled and tried to push Teddy around, “I never get to see you, man.” His voice sounded a little strained, but before he could respond two light, smooth hands slipped over his eyes. 

“Mind if I steal him, Jamie?” Teddy waited to hear the salt in his voice, but he was met with nothing but sweet syrup. 

“Seems a bit more like kidnapping, but sure.” Victoire let her hands fall from Teddy’s face and hugged him around the neck. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on the corner of Teddy’s mouth. James cleared his throat and Teddy broke away from Victoire. 

“I’ll catch you later James,” He stood up and intertwined his fingers with Victoire’s; he held his free hand out to James for a fist bump. James nodded, but didn’t look up. Maybe the kid needed glasses. Teddy bumped his hand on his cheek; he finally looked up and tapped his hand.

“Yeah, sure, catch you later.” Teddy let Victoire lead him away and when he looked back James was already scribbling in that journal again. 

“Teddy? Are you listening? I just asked if you saw me out there today.” Teddy tried to shake his head of any thoughts of James and focused entirely on his girlfriend. 

“Yeah! I saw you blocking your dad, you looked just like James.” So much for forgetting about James, but she really did. So much concentration. She jumped up and down, jerking Teddy’s arm along with her. 

“I know! I felt so good! Maybe I should’ve stuck with quidditch, made a career out of it.” She drags him along past the Burrow into the garden, touching flowers as she passed them. He knew she was kidding, obviously. She had a great job.

“And maybe I should’ve gone into comedy, strictly water based though.” She rolled her eyes and got to where she was going. A quaint little love seat swing, held up by duct tape and loose pieces of plywood. Grandpa Weasley had insisted on building it like a muggle would. Though Teddy doubted a muggle would actually build something with so little taste. She pulled him down with her and the swing creaked, but didn’t break. 

“Ha ha ha, maybe Uncle George will let you debut at his store. We’ll make a night out of it.” He snorted and leaned back in the seat, pushing his feet off the ground to make it rock. His hand was still in Victoire’s and he squeezed it, feeding off her warmth. He looked up at her and saw she was chewing on her bottom lip; she only did that when she was nervous. “Anyway, you might be wondering why I brought you here tonight…”

“Not really, we hang out all the time. It’s kinda our thing.” He sat up straight, ready to listen to her. But soon her nervous face broke into a huge grin, and she was bouncing up and down again. 

“I got promoted to head of development of children’s medicine at St. Mungo’s!” Teddy gasped and soon he was just as bouncy as her. Victoire was only 24, this was amazing, sure it wasn’t a huge department, but it’s what she loves. Since she was young she’d been particularly good at healing magics, and it also happened to be the only thing she was interested in. She’d spend all of potions class tweaking healing oils instead of doing her work. And on more than a few occasions she’d talked Teddy into helping her break into the green house at night because things healed better with the power of the moon. 

“That’s- wow! That’s amazing! I’m so happy! How’d you get it? Wait don’t tell me yet!” He pulled her into a kiss, a serious one, nothing like the bloody one in the lake, or the one on the side of his face. He kissed her seriously, and he could feel her smile under his, and taste the honey in her breath. She laughed and pulled away, but he trailed after her, stealing a few more light kisses on the way. 

“Stop! I didn’t even get to the best part!” he laughed and caught her hands, kissing her fingers. Right now, with her news, and how she looked illuminated in the evening light, was perfect. 

“It gets better?” She leans in and pecks his nose

“Of course it does!” he nods for her to go on, “Remember that spell me and my colleagues were developing?” 

“You mean the one you wouldn’t tell me about? Yeah I know all about that one.” She rolls her eyes

“Pack that sass up, boy. Or maybe I won’t show it to you.” She says coyly, pointing her nose up into the air. Teddy tugs her hands

“That’s not fair! Show me!” She pretends not to hear him for a moment, but quickly breaks. She laughs and pulls her hands back from him. She grabs her wand with one, a thin masterfully carved piece of the lightest willow wood. She grabs Teddy’s nose with the other one and wiggles it

“Does your nose still hurt?” he removes her hand, wincing a little

“It does when you manhandle it like that.” He wonders where she’s going with this, she just giggles, still high from happiness

“Sorry baby, I promise this’ll help.” She brings her legs up on the seat and crosses them. She then closes her eyes and her face goes blank. She lifts her hands, like a conductor, and she’s breathtaking. The sun is totally gone now and the world is lit by the moon. The moonlight bounces off her skin, making her look translucent, almost unnatural. Her wispy hair is pulled behind her ears, but a few stray strands have fallen and are now caught on the front of her shirt. A few fireflies blink behind her, making her look that much more magical.

She whispers something Teddy couldn’t quite catch. And from her wand comes a light, weak at first, but soon it grows. A small rabbit made of lines of light hops towards him. Leaving bursts of flowers and stars that float lightly to the ground and disappear. The animal wasn’t quite like a patronus, Victoire’s patronus wasn’t even a rabbit, but there was something distinctly protective and safe about it. Teddy was speechless as the glowing animal made its way to his face, he tried in vain to grab some of the light that fell from its path. The rabbit hopped right up to his nose and nuzzled softly against it. It didn’t feel solid; it felt warm and safe, and tickled just a bit. He tried once more to touch the rabbit but as soon as his hand touched it, it dissipated into a shower of stars. Teddy wiggled his nose himself

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Victoire clapped her hands, smile taking up her whole face. She looked like she was about to cry. “It doesn’t hurt anymore! You’re a goddess!” he scooped her up and hugged her close, repeating that it didn’t hurt anymore. She’d been experimenting with spells and medicine for a while, but he never would’ve guessed that this was what she’d do with it. It was amazing. Beautiful. 

“Do you think kids will like it?” she buried her face in Teddy’s shoulder an wrapped her legs around his waist. He stroked her back. 

“Kids? Everyone will like it! People will purposely be breaking legs to get into your wing!” she drew back and kissed his forehead.

“I hope no one does that, but thanks. I’m really excited about this.” She smiled again and a tear escaped, Teddy brushed it away with his thumb.

“And I’m really excited for you.” She tilted her head and looked at him with worried eyes.

“How’s your job going?” Teddy sighed; he didn’t want to talk about this now, not when they were so excited just a moment ago. Teddy’s job was…not what he expected.

He was an auror. Which sounds all fun and exciting and dangerous. And it was, well, is. But recently he’d been feeling stuck in his job. Sure, in the beginning it was a dream, every day was an adventure. But now it just felt stale, like something he’d already done before. He’d spent that last two months painstakingly counting down till summer. He ran a hand through his hair.

“It’s…fine.” She wasn’t buying his bullshit for a second.

“Just fine?” But he kept selling it.

“Yep. Totally fine. But you know what’s more than fine? The magical medicine bunny.” He raised his eyebrows, hoping she would drop it, luckily, she did.

“We’re so not calling it that.” She shifted around in his lap, so her back was against his chest. She pointed up at the stars that were just starting to show. “Read them to me.” This was something they did; it started when they were taking astrology together. Teddy was a whiz at the class, but Victoire just couldn’t wrap her mind around the shapes in the sky. So when they studied together Teddy would read the sky to her. Pointing out constellations and planets and whatever else was up there.  
He took her pointed hand and moved it to the left a bit. He got close to her ear and whispered

“That’s Hercules right there; you see that star, right next to the really bright one?” she nodded, though she was probably faking. She just liked to hear Teddy explain the sky. “Well you can’t see Leo right now, or Cancer, but he killed those. And Hydra. Actually he killed a lot of things, but mostly those three constellations.” Victoire hummed in approval, and closed her eyes. She always said that she didn’t need to see the stars to picture what he was saying. So he went on. He read the sky to her until sleep started tugging his eyelids down. 

He let his head rest on top of hers. The love seat swung slowly, rocking them both to sleep, but before he could actually sleep, two loud figures stomped into his line of view. Soon he had a lumus charm poking right in his face. He followed the wand up to its owner, Rose. And behind her, Hugo.

“There you two are, don’t you ever get tired of hiding from the rest of us?” Teddy rubbed his eyes, Rose was a force to be reckoned with, and not one he felt like reckoning with right now. 

“We weren’t hiding, Rosie, we’re just in the garden.” Victoire spoke up, stretching her arms above her head, nearly taking Teddy’s nose out again. 

“Then why does it always take a whole team of us to find you?” Hugo whined, “Wait, don’t answer me, I know why. You two are just so in love that you can’t stand to see other people, right?” Teddy laughed at that

“Put a sock in it, kid.” Hugo stuck his tongue out, and Teddy quickly returned the favor. Rose rolled her eyes at all the childishness going on around her.

“Well come on in.” Teddy put his head back down.

“Nah, we’ll just sleep out here.” Rose grabbed Teddy’s ear, and Hugo grabbed Victoire’s ( he was always copying his sister). “Ow, ow ow!” 

“Like hell you are, you’ll catch a cold like that.” They didn’t bother arguing past that. All four of them went inside, and after a purposely gooey, PDA filled good night from Teddy and Victoire (just to annoy everyone with how “in love they were”) they went to bed. Well, Teddy actually just crashed on the couch and didn’t move after that.  
He fell asleep thinking about rabbits made of light and boys with dark hair who laughed too loud.


End file.
